Pacific Rim: The King of Monsters
by iowaforever
Summary: One year after the end of the Kaiju War, Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori are prepared to start a life together away from the Breach and the Jaeger Program. But when a mysterious egg is discovered on an island in the Pacific, the two shall be drawn back in as a new threat is unleashed upon the world.
1. Discovery

Discovery

_March 23rd, 2026_

_Northern Mariana Islands_

_1659 hours_

The pilot had said they would be expecting "turbulence". Had Newt been a normal civilian scientist, he would have agreed, but his experiences under Marshal Pentecost, constantly moving from base to base to better react to the kaiju attacks, had made him quite accustomed to turbulence. Gottlieb was faring much worse, huddled in the back of the helicopter looking like a half-drowned rodent, and Newt guessed it might have been a side-effect of the Drift the two had made with the dead kaiju in Hong Kong.

_Then again, there are a lot of things sticking around from plugging into that thing,_ he thought. He shook his head and looked back to the cockpit. "How much further?"

"We're starting our approach now, sir." the pilot called. Newt smirked a little; he liked it when people called him "Sir". He turned back towards Gottlieb.

"Hear that? Almost there."

"Thank God for that." Gottlieb muttered, gagging as the helicopter dropped from the sky. "Always hated these bloody things. At least flying around Hong Kong was only for short periods, but _this?_"

"Hey cheer up a little; we get a chance to poke around some kaiju remains."

"Didn't the last time you 'poked around' kaiju remains almost end with you getting eaten?" Newt frowned and looked away. He still owed Hannibal a punch for trying to feed him to a kaiju, but that was a matter for another time. He pushed his glasses higher up on his nose just as the helicopter landed, grabbing a nearby bag of supplies and standing up as the engine died down.

Newt stepped out of the helicopter, Gottlieb following behind as best he could. They were surrounded by a collection of tents and small shacks, with various scientists and workers running to and fro. Soldiers and vehicles from several Pacific nations stood silently amongst the camp, watching for any signs of foul play. _All this needs is a Jaeger, and we'd be back at the Shatterdome... well, except for all the sand._ Newt and Gottlieb continued on, stepping off the tarmac just as they were approached by a mixed group of scientists and soldiers, led by a tall man in his late sixties.

"Doctor Geiszler?" the man asked as they neared.

"Please, call me Newt," Newt replied, holding out his free hand. "Only my mom calls me 'Doctor'."

"Of course." the man smiled, the kind of smile that makes one feel uneasy. "I am Doctor Joseph Kroeger, head of the science detachment here. I must say it is a pleasure to work with a man of your calibre, Mr. Geiszler." formal names aside, Newt was enjoying his fame among the scientific community. People that had dismissed him as a "Kaiju Groupie" were now taking him seriously... well, except for those that called him "Two Brain" because of some messed up paleontology facts, but at least they knew who he was.

"Thank you." Newt turned slightly and gestured to Gottlieb. "This is my numbers guy, Hermann Gottlieb-"

"I am not your 'Numbers Guy'," Gottlieb snapped. "We are colleagues; we should have equal standing."

"Call it whatever you like, you're still a numbers guy." Newt turned back to Kroeger. "Anyway, that's Hermann. He's got a better head for numbers than anyone else I know."

"I hope we can put his skills to good use." Kroeger said, giving another of his off smiles. "Come, I'll show you two the site." the group began walking, Newt doing his best to stay at the front of the pack.

"I didn't get a chance to fully read that packet you sent me," Newt said once he did manage to catch up to Kroeger. "But what exactly are we dealing with?"

"Kaiju, obviously, but there's a little more than that." the group exited the camp, following a small line of rope into the brush at the center of the island. "Tell me, Mr. Geiszler, of all the kaiju you encountered during your time as part of the Jaeger Program, were any of them capable of reproduction?"

"Well... one was, but we never actually saw them..." Newt made a few gestures with his hands to illustrate his point.

"Ah, say no more." they passed through a grove of short trees. "Well, what if I were to say that we found something that might point to something a bit more... conclusive as to whether or not kaiju are capable of breeding." They stepped out into a clearing, where even more soldiers and scientists stood. At the center of the clearing was an egg, a large greenish egg roughly the size of a truck. Several men in radiation suits were scanning the egg with various machines, relaying their findings to others farther away.

"We found this during a satellite flyby two months ago," Kroeger explained, leading Newt and Gottlieb closer to the egg. "Took me another month to convince the world leaders to send a team out here to study and collect it."

"... kaiju egg." was all Newt could say at first. "If this _is_ a kaiju egg, why don't you guys have bigger guns for when the thing hatches?"

"Governments; they have their reasons." Newt did not like the sound of that answer, but passed it off for now. "Anyway, we've done a few scans and the egg most likely will not be hatching soon."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Mr. Geiszler, I thought you enjoyed studying kaiju."

"Well... yeah, just not when they're trying to eat me." Kroeger chuckled before turning his focus back to the egg. "So, you've got the egg. Where's mommy?"

"That's where things get a little interesting. This egg has not been at this particular spot for very long."

"And by very long, you mean...?"

"Just before we found it." both Newt and Gottlieb recoiled in shock.

"Two months?" Gottlieb asked. "But the Breach has been closed for almost a year."

"It is possible that one of the kaiju that came out of the Breach may still be around, only focusing on this egg instead of attacking one of our cities." Kroeger countered.

"Yeah, we tracked every kaiju that came out of the Breach," Newt said. "We killed them all."

"But who's to say that this isn't one of the first kaiju that exited the Breach, before the tracking system was perfected?"

"And somehow managed to lay and keep a hugeass egg hidden from us?"

"Stranger things have happened." Newt frowned; something about the situation did not seem right, magically disappearing kaiju notwithstanding. Yes, the prospect of a kaiju egg was very tempting, but he did not have as much information as he would have liked.

"Well, Mr. Geiszler? Shall we get to work?" Kroeger asked.

"Uh... Sure. Where do we set up?"

_March 23rd, 2026_

_Seattle, United States of America._

_2037 hours_

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are beginning our approach into Seattle. Please return your seatbacks and tray-tables to their full and upright position." Raleigh Becket blinked a few times, pulling his head away from the airplane window. His entire body was tense from being in a terrible sleeping position for the last few hours, but compared to conditions up on The Wall or the Shatterdome it was not that bad. Raleigh blinked again, trying his best to adjust his eyes to the low light of the cabin before looking to his companion Mako Mori, who was using his left shoulder as a pillow.

Not wishing to disturb Mako, Raleigh turned back towards the window. Outside, dark clouds and rain were all that welcomed them to Seattle. Raleigh had visited Seattle once or twice before the kaiju arrived, and from what he remembered it had rained then as well.

_Doesn't matter,_ he thought. _I've dealt with worse things than rain._ Raleigh was pulled away from his thoughts by Mako stirring.

"We're landing?" she asked, her words slurred due to fatigue.

"We should be on the ground in a minute or two." Mako nodded and sat up, although she was a little hesitant in letting go of Raleigh's arm. "Sleep well?"

"Not really. I was never good at sleeping on planes, or any vehicle for that matter." Raleigh shrugged just as the plane touched down, jostling the other passengers in their seats. Mako and Raleigh paid the others little mind, the Japanese woman chuckling slightly at the others before catching herself. Had she been anyone else she would have come off as someone who enjoyed the misfortune of others, but she was an ex-Jaeger pilot; turbulence was nothing compared to being smacked around by an angry kaiju.

Like most of the city, the Seattle airport was still being rebuilt. The kaiju had attacked Seattle twice, destroying both it and the Jaeger tasked with defending it in 2022. Now, Seattle was rising from the ashes, the scars of battle slowly disappearing as Humanity reclaimed the city. With the airports operating again supplies and commerce were able to flow more freely, and society was allowed a chance to heal.

After retrieving their bags the two exited the plane silently, slipping through the crowds and Customs with little difficulty. Now, there was no fanfare, no crowds flocking towards "The Heroes of the Breach", nothing; just Raleigh and Mako, alone amongst a healing city.

After so many years of fighting the kaiju, Raleigh was content to leave it at that.

"Raleigh?" Raleigh was shaken from his thoughts and looked over at Mako. "You seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"No... just letting my mind wander, that's all."

"Do you always have to look so serious when your mind wanders?"

"It's better than looking like a complete idiot... not to say that hasn't happened before." Raleigh chuckled a little. "I remember my mom used to get freaked out about that sometimes. I'd just be staring off thinking about something and she'd run over and act as if I was having a seizure."

"Ah." Mako stepped around another group of people before continuing. "How long did this go on?"

"About two years, before she just gave up and moved on to something else." Raleigh's spirits dropped a little. "She was very good at moving on..." Mako was silent, knowing full well what Raleigh was referring to. She shouldered her bag and fell in place beside Raleigh, occasionally looking over to see if he was okay.

_She understands..._ Raleigh thought. _I know she does._

"So," Mako asked as they exited the airport, trying to find a more comfortable subject. "Where exactly is this apartment you've been telling me about?"

"About an hour's drive south." Raleigh answered. "A friend of mine from when I was up on the Wall invested in a few complexes a week after we blasted the Breach; he said he'd be willing to let me have first pick if I ever decided to come back to the States."

"He sounds like a very generous man."

"I saved his life once; I guess he wants to return the favor." His energy renewed, Raleigh smiled again. "You'll love it; it's far enough away from the city so we don't have to worry about people poking around looking for us, and I heard it's got a nice view of the mountains to go with it." he would have continued had Mako not shushed him by placing two fingers against his lips.

"You picked it out." she said, smiling. "I know I shall love it." a quick peck later, and the two continued down the street, arms intertwined with one another.

_This just keeps getting better and better,_ Raleigh though, giving Mako's hand a small squeeze.

_March 25th, 2026_

_The Marianas Trench_

_0034 hours_

The beast awoke from it's slumber, collected silt and debris rolling down it's side. Clouds of dust filled the water as it rose from it's resting place, and dozens of lesser creatures fled as the beast began it's nightly hunt.

For the past three months it had been feeding, diving down to the depths in search of squid and schools of fish. The Others had chased away most of the good prey, but they were gone now, the prey was returning, and the beast was allowed to traverse the ocean in peace as it had for thousands of years before. Silently it turned and dipped into the trench, it's eyes scanning the dark for prey.

It knew that it could not stay down here forever. Soon, it would have to return to the egg. It would hatch soon, and the beast would no longer be alone amongst the darkness. There had been the Others, but they were enemies of the beast, and had attacked both it's home and it's egg. The beast had driven off or killed a few, but while the beast was strong the Others were more numerous.

So it fled, egg in tow, until it had come here, and it had found peace.

Peace had long eluded the beast. The Others had come before, and the beast hid from them. Then Man had come, and once again the beast found itself driven from it's home. It had fought, it had killed many, but more would come. So it retreated here, and it found the egg. Then the Others had returned, and the cycle had repeated itself.

Now, though, it would have peace. Even if it had to spend the rest of it's life lurking in the shadows, it would have peace.

Out of the corner of it's eye it saw a large squid, passing slowly in the murky depths. Despite it's immense size, the beast moved with supreme agility, catching it's prey with a quick snap of it's jaws. There was no struggle; the squid was dead and swallowed before it even knew it was under attack. Rising, the beast scanned the water for prey, snapping up the occasional small school of fish or wayward shark.

It would return home soon. The egg would hatch, and the beast would know peace.


	2. Complications

**Wow, this story took off pretty quick. Thank you all for your support.**

**Anyway, standard disclaimer saying that I don't own ****_Pacific Rim_**** or ****_Godzilla_****. There shall be more rant at the end of the chapter.**

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Complications

_March 26th, 2026_

_The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong_

_1320 hours_

Hercules "Herc" Hansen was angry. It had been his default emotion for some time now, ever since the universe decided to make screwing him over it's new pastime, but now he had reached a new high. The current target of his rage, Representative Adam Madison, seemed completely unaware that there was a problem.

The problem in question was a resurrected Jaeger Program. Hansen had campaigned for nearly six months for the project to be revived, even if it was only temporary, citing that the world should be prepared in case the kaiju returned. Somehow, he succeeded... until Madison decided he wanted more of the stake in the project.

"I really don't understand what you're hoping to achieve. First, you say you'll support me, then you cut my funding, then you ask me to rebuild a semi-obsolete Jaeger as a 'proof-of-concept', and now you want me to scrap my plans for more Mark 5s?" Hansen growled, glaring at the screen that displayed Madison.

"The cost to produce even one Mark 5 is too much for this program." Madison replied. "Now, if you stuck with my original draft of the plan-"

"We'd have several dozen dead pilots on our hands. There is a reason we retired or scrapped the early Mark 1s. Several of my friends _died_ because of the Mark 1s! And now you're telling me that replacing Mark 5s with them-"

"It's a simple calculation of numbers, Mr. Hansen-"

"_Marshal_ Hansen." Madison merely rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying, _Marshal_, it's simple numbers; your plan called for four Mark 5 Jaegers, a very small number if you hope to combat the army of kaiju you've claimed you've been preparing for. However, for the price of one Mark 5 we could build six Mark 1s, thereby allowing us to defend a wider area as well as have a chance at matching the kaiju in numbers."

"That would make more sense if we were attacked by Category 2 kaiju. Need I remind you about Singapore, when a Category 3 split a Mark 1 _in half_ before it was brought down?"

"To be fair, that Jaeger _was_ supposed to be retired..."

"Or what about the second to last attack on Hong Kong. That city would have been leveled if _Crimson Typhoon_ hadn't killed that Category 4, and that was after the kaiju destroyed a Mark 1 that was practically brand new. Imagine what a Category 5 would do to your little army of Mark 1s. Imagine an _army_ of Category 5 kaiju; do your numbers hold up to that?"

"And I suppose your Mark 5s would do better?"

"_Striker Eureka _was able to withstand simultaneous attack from a Category 4 and a Category 5. With the right improvements and a properly trained crew, we could hold out against a major onslaught long enough to get more Jaegers out in the field."

"That is, if your kaiju actually show up at all." Madison moved around a little in his seat. "Listen, Hansen, I know that you've been willing to listen to reason-"

"Because I thought that rebuilding _Gipsy Danger_ was one of your better ideas."

"As I was saying, I know you listen to reason, and listen to me when I say that using the Mark 1s is the better option. Looking past the normal expenses, we'd at least have most of the Mark 1s finished in the time it would take half of your Mark 5s. They would be able to act as a buffer against the kaiju until more advanced models are ready." Hansen's glare deepened.

"Representative Madison, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course?"

"Were you one of the ones who okayed the Kaiju Wall?" Madison's façade of calm broke, and he even tugged at his tie a little.

"I... I cannot continue this conversation at this point. Good day." And with that the image disappeared.

"Meddling asshole." Hansen muttered before exiting the communications room, soon joined by Tendo Choi.

"I take it that the meeting with the Representatives did not go so well?" Choi asked.

"'Representative' and no, it did not." Hansen growled in frustration as they rounded the next corner. "Stacker would have gotten a response."

"You're doing a fine job, sir."

"You're kissing my ass, Choi. Stop that before I re-evaluate your usefulness." Choi did not respond at first, instead slowing his pace to put a little more space between himself and Hansen. Hansen did not really mean it; Choi had been with the Jaeger program since the end of the Golden Age, and Hansen needed all the experience he could get if his plan was to gain any traction.

"So... we have no Jaegers?"

"We have _one_, Choi. Unless we can find some more support, all we'll have is one Jaeger and a few dozen tin cans for the kaiju to snack on."

"That is, if the kaiju come back, sir."

"... Sure." Really, Hansen was running more on paranoia than any solid fact. One year had passed, and not a single kaiju or breach had been spotted. He would have given up the program a long time ago, but deep down nothing seemed alright.

_Guess the anticipation never really wears off._ He thought.

"Choi, find some way to stall the orders for the Mark 1s until I can straighten things out."

"Yes sir." Choi disappeared down an adjoining hallway. Hansen continued for a bit more before his phone chimed. A quick check, and Hansen found himself in a conversation with one Newt Geiszler.

"Caught you at a bad time?" Newt asked, his voice disoriented due to the walls of the Shatterdome interfering with the signal.

"Newt, there are two things that would make me happy right now, and unless you happen to be an assassin or a kaiju I don't think you'll be of any help."

"Well, the killing part I can't really help, but giant monsters on the other hand..." Hansen stopped.

"What is it?"

"Either it's a sign that we're all gonna die in a few weeks, or someone made Christmas come a little earlier than-"

"Just get to the point!"

"We found an egg." Hansen almost dropped the phone in shock, no small feat for the ex-Jaeger pilot. He composed himself before speaking again.

"An egg?"

"Yup. Nice big kaiju-sized egg. Apparently it's been sitting on some island in the Marianas for the past few months."

"And the, uh... mother?"

"Nowhere to be found. Either it's hiding really good, or the egg has been out there even longer than we thought."

"I see..." Hansen looked around for a moment. "Where is it now?"

"On it's way to Japan. I wanted a chance to get a closer look at it somewhere where an angry mother kaiju won't come and eat me before I get a chance to run away. If you want, you can fly up here and take a look for yourself."

"No. That won't be necessary." Hansen noticed that he was sweating. He hadn't sweat since _Striker Eureka_'s first mission. "Listen, Newt, can you give me all the information that you have on the egg, as well as any pictures of the thing?"

"You'll have to wait until next week, when it arrives, but yeah I'll get you some pictures. Why?"

"I think I need to have a word with a certain representative..."

_March 27th, 2026_

_Seattle, United States of America_

_0312 hours_

_A little girl walks through the street, scared, alone. Her crying goes unanswered, for there is no one left to comfort her. Her face is flecked with dust, her knees scraped. In her hand is a red shoe, glossy as the day her father had given them to her._

_He is dead. They are all dead. All she can do is cry, cry and search for someone to help her._

_There is a screech overhead. Fighter jets, F-22s. They are gone as soon as they arrive, and once again she is alone. but not for long, for there is a roar, deep and menacing. It is here; the monster that killed her parents, her friends, everyone. She dares not look around, dares not face it._

_She runs, and it follows._

_She is small, her steps tiny compared to the monster. It gains on her, smashing through buildings and over cars in pursuit of her. It's roars drown out her cries, and she can only stumble through the rubble to try and escape._

_She stumbles again, and the world goes black._

Mako gasped before snapping her head up, panting as she looked around the room of the apartment. Her clothes and sheets were soaked with sweat, and her entire body ached as her adrenalin died down. She let out a small cry of anguish before burying her face in her hands, brushing the sweat off her face.

_It's over..._ she reminded herself. _They are all dead. It is over._ Mako composed herself and eased herself out of bed, careful to not disturb Raleigh as he slept. She stepped away and removed her sweaty clothing, using her shirt as an improvised towel to dry her legs and back. That task completed, she found a fresh pair of sleeping clothes and redressed herself before returning to bed.

For a few minutes she lay there, staring up at the ceiling. Images of the attack on Tokyo, her first fight in Hong Kong, the Breach, all of them played over and over in her mind, each one just as bad at the one before. She shifted around a little trying to find a comfortable spot to sleep, but she found none.

Until her hand brushed up against Raleigh's back.

New memories flooded her mind. Not just her own memories, but his as well, the different misadventures and good times he had before the arrival of the kaiju. Others soon came into view, such as the funeral for Marshal Pentecost and Chuck Hansen, the hero's welcome the two received when they arrived in Hong Kong after destroying the Breach, the first time they had a chance to really be alone.

Mako smiled. These were the memories she wanted; not ones of destruction, but ones of hope.

She scooted closer, pressing her body up against Raleigh's before laying her arm across his torso. He shifted a little, but this allowed her to get closer to him. Mako rested her chin against Raleigh's scarred shoulder, closing her eyes and allowing happy memories to lull her to sleep.

...

The next morning, Mako awoke and found herself alone. This was nothing new; Raleigh always woke up early, and most of the time he was able to step out and leave her undisturbed. She lay motionless for a few moments, listening for any sound that would indicate where he was.

A few heavy footsteps. A small bang. _He's in the kitchen_.

Mako yawned and sat up, stretching out her arms before getting out of bed. She quickly crossed over to the door and entered the main room of the apartment, finding Raleigh seated with his back to her, a small cup of coffee resting on the table next to him. "Morning."

"Hmm?" Raleigh turned towards her. "Oh, morning. I didn't hear you get up."

"Maybe I decided to be sneaky today." she smirked before taking a seat across from Raleigh. "Did you sleep well?"

"Fine. Had some weird dreams, though."

"Oh?" Mako leaned forward a little. "Care to tell me about them?"

"Mako, it's really not all that-"

"Please, Raleigh. If something is bothering you, I can help."

"Uh... they really weren't all that bad. I had a dream that a giant teddy bear was beating me over the head with a straw." Mako blinked a few times before leaning back.

"... You're joking."

"Really wish I was."

"Oh..." she drummed her fingers on the table a few times before continuing. "I suppose that is for the better."

"How so?"

"Strange dreams instead of nightmares; you are getting better." Raleigh smiled and took a sip from his coffee.

"I guess so." there was a pause. "So, any plans for today?"

"Well, I did see a small gym nearby; I was thinking about joining so I could stay in shape."

"Gotten tired of sparring?"

"Well, no... I just wanted to branch out a little." Raleigh nodded. "And you? What plans do you have?"

"I was going to look around, see if there's anyone hiring." he looked over at her. "I mean, I can't really go through life with no other skills besides 'Jaeger pilot', can I?" Mako smiled.

"I suppose not." The two sat in silence for a few moments, Mako watching Raleigh as he finished his coffee. They made eye contact for a brief instant, Mako giving Raleigh another smile before he stood up.

"I should probably get ready," he said. "No one will take me seriously if I go out looking like this."

"I might."

"Well, yeah, but you're... you." Mako shrugged.

"Never stopped you before, has it?"

"... No." Raleigh set his cup down and headed for the bathroom, Mako's eyes watching his every move. Part of her wanted to ask if she could join him, but her rational side told her that would result in neither one of them achieving anything... well, anything important.

She closed her eyes and leaned back, allowing more pleasant memories to drift into her mind.

_March 28th, 2026_

_Pan Pacific Research Facility, Tokyo_

_1709 hours_

"And he actually convinced you to _move_ the damn thing?" Representative Madison spat. "Doctor Kroeger, I was unaware that you had given up control of the research."

"All due respect, sir," Kroeger replied. "I did try to convince him otherwise, but Geiszler is... persuasive."

"Persuasive is not a good enough answer, doctor. Do you know what would happen if word got out that we had found and moved a kaiju egg? People will panic, and where would that leave me?"

"You're the representative, you tell me." Madison was about to launch into another tirade, but Kroeger cut him off. "Listen, Geiszler may be persuasive, but he is not the kind of person to let something like this just leak out. He'll keep quiet."

"Are you sure?"

"I obviously haven't told you about that contraption he brought in from Hong Kong."

"Spare me the details." Madison shifted again. "I've had enough trouble dealing with Hansen and his insistence on using Mark 5s. Just focus on your part, and I shall contact you if any new developments arise."

"Yes sir." With that, the message ended. Kroeger took a moment to compose himself before turning and re-entering the lab, greeted by the sound of Gottlieb and Geiszler arguing.

"I still don't see why you had to bring that here." Gottlieb said, pointing at the pile of garbage that was Geiszler's Kaiju Neural Bridge.

"I'm thinking ahead here." Newt said before ducking behind the Neural Bridge. "I have a theory: being as this kaiju is in an egg, it might have a mental signature similar to a bird or a normal lizard. Now, if we can successfully imprint on the baby kaiju, it might just let us to a few experiments with it."

"Or it could eat us and destroy this entire facility." Newt shrugged.

"This is science; we need to take a few risks."

"If I might ask," Kroeger said. "What exactly is this for, then?"

"Ah, that's the best part." Newt's smile got even wider. "Gottlieb and I are the only one to have ever Drifted with a kaiju-"

"Which almost got us killed." Gottlieb muttered.

"But even then we were dealing with a mind that was slowly dying due to... well, decomposing. Anyway, with this new kaiju we can get a perfect Drift without having to worry about nasty decomposition. Do you have any idea what we could learn Drifting with a non-dying, friendly kaiju? The entire field of Genetics could be turned on it's head with just a few Drifts."

"If the kaiju's a baby, won't it's mind be blank?" Kroeger asked.

"Not really. The kaiju we Drifted with in Hong Kong had memories of it's mother's time on the other side of the Breach, so it's likely that this one might as well."

"And how are you going to configure your machine so it doesn't fry your brain, again?" Gottlieb asked.

"I actually have a budget this time; the Chinese are lending me the devices they recovered when they salvaged _Crimson Typhoon _and _Cherno Alpha_, and I have a better idea of what I'm doing this time." Newt's smile dropped away. "Although I'd have to make a harness big enough for a baby kaiju's head..."

"You're crazy." Gottlieb said before returning to his side of the room.

"You're just figuring that out now?" Newt's smile returned as Gottlieb shook his head.

"Well, he does have a point." Kroeger said, stepping closer while Newt began to tinker with the Neural Bridge. "Do you really think that moving the egg was the best idea?"

"Better than having to ship all this equipment down to the Marianas, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but... suppose the mother comes looking for it, what then?" Newt froze, and Kroeger could see a small bead of sweat run down his temple.

"Well... I don't think it's around, seeing as you guys managed to set up a camp around the site for a month."

"Certain animals will sometimes leave their babies while searching for food; who's to say that this kaiju isn't like the others."

"Have you heard of boats disappearing or cities being destroyed?"

"Well... other than the standard odd phenomenon, no."

"Well, there's your answer; unless the kaiju's been feeding on fish or something else then it's probably not there."

"And if you're wrong?" another bead of sweat.

"... We'll just have to hope the Jaeger Program is back up and running before then."

* * *

**Slower chapter, I know, but this is a fanfiction, not a Michael Bay movie; there has to be plot between action.**

**Next chapter will have Godzilla find out about the egg being stolen... you can probably guess what happens afterwards.**

**Still don't own ****_Pacific Rim_**** or ****_Godzilla._**** Favorites and reviews are appreciated, and if I screwed something up please let me know.**


	3. Surprises

**Thought I might clarify a few things. This version of Godzilla is closer to the classic Godzilla rather than GINO (AKA Zilla, the monster in the 1998 film), or at least I'll try to make him closer to classic Godzilla. And technically the egg is not his; he just found it a while before the kaiju invasion and took it for himself.**

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Surprises

_March 29th, 2026_

_Northern Mariana Islands_

_2330 hours_

Something was wrong. There was a change in the air, a change the beast could not quite pick up on. Rising from the bottom of the ocean, it sniffed at the air once more, trying to decipher what the smell was.

Through the water the beast could hear a sound; a whirring sound, coming closer and closer to it. Diving again, the beast watched as a large rectangular shape passed overhead, and the beast recognized it as a ship. It swam closer, it's nose just breaking the surface as it smelled again.

The ship was a part of the disturbance. Man was nearing the beast's home and egg.

The beast dove down and swam towards it's home, hoping to reach the island before the intruders did. Maybe they would spot it, but the beast did not care; it would just have to find a new island to settle on, until the egg hatched.

It began to pick up other sounds, from above the waves. Whirring sounds, like the ship, headed towards the beast's home. Maybe they were just passing by, or maybe one of the Others had been spotted.

Or maybe they had found the egg.

For the first time in many centuries, the beast felt worry. The egg was the beast's last chance at peace, and man was threatening it. As worry built, the beast hurried towards it's home, a wake forming on the surface of the water as it swam.

It neared it's home, raising it's head slightly out of the water. The beast spent most of it's life in the depths of the sea; the darkness of night did little to hamper it's view of the island. Not that it needed to, for the once quiet island was now lit up like a fire, and the beast could see the small shapes of Man moving about on the beaches.

It was too late. They were here.

But it could still fight.

With a roar the beast charged out of the ocean, each step it took shaking the water around it. The intruders onshore panicked and fled as the beast made landfall, diving down to try and find shelter. The beast roared again, a terrible sound like that of tearing metal, and stalked closer, hoping to scare the intruders from their hiding spots.

Several of the intruders raised devices of some sort towards the beast, and it stopped only due to the unfamiliarity of the objects. The devices flashed, and fire exploded around the beast, disorienting it at first but otherwise failing to penetrate it's hide.

The beast pulled itself up higher before roaring once more. As it did, the spines on it's back flashed before a jet of blue flame shot from the beast's mouth, racing forward and striking the shelters the intruders hid behind. They had no chance to run before they were destroyed, their bodies and weapons burning to ash and the sand beneath them melted into glass. Those that did survive dropped their weapons and ran for their lives, the beast sending more flame after them.

The egg would survive. The beast knew it; it had seen fire lick against the egg's shell and have no effect, and this would be no different.

The intruders had brought heavier weapons, more explosions popping around the beast. With a sweep of it's tail the emplacements were shattered, and another blast of fire saw their crews set alight, screaming in agony as the beast continued it's march. It swept it's vision across the island, searching for both the intruders and the egg.

It was gone.

The egg was gone. Where it had rested was now a shallow depression, with two of the intruders large devices next to it. No trace, no sign that it had ever been there. It was just gone.

They had stolen it.

_They had stolen it_.

Alone in the flames, the beast raised it's head and howled in despair. The egg was gone, stolen behind it's back. Any remains of the intruders on the island were destroyed, smoke and fire rising up in the air as the beast grieved.

The egg was gone. They had stolen it.

The beast began to sniff the air, smelling for any trace of it's egg. At first it found nothing, and the beast fell deeper into it's grief. However, a small hint caught it's attention. The beast turned towards the northwest, sniffing to pick up more of a trace.

It was there. The egg was there.

And they had stolen it.

As the beast turned towards the direction of the scent, it's grief was slowly replaced with rage. It would find it's egg. It would find the intruders, those that had stolen it's egg.

And they would die screaming.

_March 29th, 2026_

_Seattle, United States of America_

As the Kaiju Wall was no longer under construction, many people were now out looking for work. However, due to their being so few people living in the coastal regions, there were next to no jobs available anywhere. Raleigh was half tempted to wait a month or two to see if anything changed, but the idea of not doing anything was not incredibly appealing. Mako had suggested that he might benefit from getting involved in the still-developing community, the only problem being Raleigh was not sure where to start or who to ask.

_I think I'm losing my edge,_ he thought. _Mako's right; I need to start getting involved more. _He was interrupted by his phone ringing, displaying a private number. Normally Raleigh would have let the phone keep ringing until whoever it was gave up, but something told him that this call might actually be important and he answered.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Becket. Glad I caught you." the familiar voice of Hercules Hansen replied. Even though Hansen was only speaking to him over the phone, Raleigh did find himself sitting up a little straighter.

"Marshal. Is something wrong?"

"Not at the moment." Hansen sighed. "Well, maybe. You know how I've been working to rebuild the Jaeger Program?"

"More or less. I haven't really paid a lot of attention to that sort of thing."

"I don't blame you. It's more boring politics than anything else. I swear, I've got so many suits trying to micromanage this thing that I sometimes wish we'd let the kaiju killed us all."

"Not much I can do to help you with that, sir." Hansen gave a half-hearted chuckle before speaking again.

"Anyway, I need your help, Becket."

"I'm not part of the Jaeger Program any more, Marshal, remember?"

"Well... Yes, there's that. But I still need your help; you were one of the better pilots we had, and we need pilots if this new Program is to have any teeth."

"And you want me back?"

"If not as a normal pilot, then at least as an advisor of some sort." Raleigh was silent as Hansen continued. "I know you and Ms. Mori are trying to settle down, and I'm willing to respect that. I just need an experienced pilot to come and beat some sense into new recruits. You and Ms. Mori can come and go as you please, and stay on just long enough for me to get the program stable."

"Kind of a waste of time if no kaiju show up, isn't it?" there was a pause.

"... True. I'm running on paranoia more than anything, but I do have reason to believe that there may still be kaiju out there."

"And that would be..."

"It would take too long to explain." Raleigh remained silent. "Listen, Becket, I'm not trying to force you or Ms. Mori into doing anything, but the Jaeger Program needs someone with your skills. Just take some time, talk it over between the two of you, and call me back when you-" Hansen stopped talking, and Raleigh could hear someone else speaking to him. "Sorry, Becket, but something's come up. We'll have to continue this at another time."

"Sure." the call ended, Raleigh setting his phone down and leaning back in his chair, sighing. Multiple scenarios ran through his mind, most of them ending with either him or Mako dead or otherwise worse off. Hansen's offer did seem a bit off, and with no kaiju reports for the last year the chances that there would be another attack seemed remote.

Then again, there was whatever Hansen had talked about...

Raleigh was in the process of weighing his options when he heard the front door open. In stepped Mako, slightly sweaty from her daily workout, and she gave Raleigh a small smile before closing the door.

"I have a surprise for you." she said, kicking off her shoes and stepping over to him.

"Oh? What is it?" Mako's smile slipped, but did not break fully.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I didn't mean to, sorry. What's your surprise?" Mako smiled wider and took a seat next to Raleigh.

"You know how you were having trouble looking for jobs?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, the owner of that gym I found was looking to hire a new trainer for some of the classes, and I told him that you might be interested." Raleigh blinked.

"... Really?"

"Oh yes. He was very excited to have someone with your... qualifications. I told him that you would come in tomorrow, if you were interested." she waited a few moments for Raleigh to respond, her smile slipping a little the longer she waited. "Is something wrong? Do you not like my surprise?"

"No, I like it. It's just..." Raleigh scooted a little closer. "Well, you could have taken the job if you wanted. You're just as qualified as I am."

"I am not much of a trainer, Raleigh, and I remember how you dealt with the other recruits before Hong Kong. You understand how people move and think better than I ever could." she looked down. "I even see a bit of Marshal Pentecost in you." Mako was silent for now, finding a point on the table to focus on. Raleigh reached out and touched her hand.

"He meant a lot to everyone, Mako." he said, massaging her hand with his finger, and he noticed her face twitch as her smile returned and her fingers wrapped around his.

"Thank you, Raleigh. Thank you." they sat in silence, looking into each other's eyes, before Raleigh spoke again.

"Mako? I just got a call from Marshal Hansen."

"Oh?" Mako pulled her hand away from his. "What did he have to say?"

"He was wondering if you and I would be willing to come back to the Jaeger program... temporarily." Mako nodded.

"And what did you tell him?"

"I... I told him we'd talk about it before telling him our decision. I think I have his number around here somewhere." Raleigh shrugged. "Well?"

"I... I don't know." Mako leaned forward a little. "If Marshal Hansen thinks that there is a threat, we should help him."

"But most of this is just hints and paranoia. There hasn't been a kaiju sighting in over a year."

"But who's to say that the Breach could not have reopened, or that this is a kaiju we missed?" she did have a point there; the tracking system for the Breach was not developed until after the first Jaegers had been deployed, so any number of kaiju could still be waiting out there.

"So, should we call Hansen back and tell him we're in?"

"No." Mako said, before backtracking. "I-I mean, not yet. You could be right, and this could just be paranoia. I... I guess I need to think on this, alone... And I suppose you should do the same."

"Fair enough."

_March 29th, 2026_

_The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong_

"What is it, Choi?" Hansen asked, turning towards Choi. Choi swallowed before speaking.

"Sir, we've lost contact with the team in the Marianas." All work in the room stopped, everyone turning towards Hansen. Hansen composed himself before replying.

"What do you mean 'lost contact'?"

"It's just not responding to anything we've sent out to them-"

"I understand that. Have you been able to figure out what's wrong, though?"

"... No." Hansen looked away for a moment. Losing contact with the Marianas could mean any number of things, but the paranoid old soldier in Hansen told him to prepare for the worst.

"Get someone out there and find out what happened. In the meantime, put all systems on high alert until I give the all clear."

"Yes sir." Choi turned to leave before Hansen called out again.

"How soon can we get _Gipsy_ ready for combat?" Choi turned back, and Hansen could see he was a lot more nervous now.

"Sir, we only just received-"

"How soon?"

"... Four days, at least. Several components are still being delivered. Not to mention we still need pilots." _And the only Mark 3 pilots left are halfway around the world... They'll see sense when a kaiju smashes through Hong Kong or Tokyo._ It was a morbid thought, but it was true. Becket and Mori might be trying to put the past behind them, but they were still soldiers in the end; they'd come around if the world was in danger.

"Do what you can. And contact all the representatives and have them get their forces ready just in case this does turn into a kaiju attack."

"Yes sir." Choi departed while Hansen looked up to the monitors.

"Is the tracking system back up and running?" he asked a nearby technician.

"Almost, sir. It'll take us an hour or two to get the right calibrations so we'll know what is a kaiju and what isn't."

"See if you can speed it up."

"Yes sir." Hansen exited the room, pulling out his phone and dialing another number. There was a pause before his call was received.

"Problems?" Newt asked.

"Plenty. Your little science project in the Marianas just fell off the radar."

"Could be a storm or power outage."

"Or a kaiju. Why do I have a feeling that your stunt with the egg is what started this mess?" Hansen heard something in the background that he guessed was Gottlieb voicing his opinion on the matter.

"The egg arrived in Osaka this morning and should be here in Tokyo in an hour. If it's done anything-"

"That's not the point. You could have just pissed off a kaiju by stealing it's baby from it."

"Hey, I'm not the one who found the egg. Kroeger's the one who spotted the thing and called us in, and from the radiation spike you could say-"

"Wait." Hansen stopped walking. "Who?"

"Uh, Joseph Kroeger? Head of the science division that was on that island?" Hansen blinked.

"I didn't send anyone named Kroeger."

* * *

**Godzilla begins his rampage, our heroes are dithering, and something is up... We can probably say goodbye to Osaka for now.**

**Anyway, I don't own ****_Pacific Rim _****or ****_Godzilla_****. Favorites and reviews are appreciated, and if I screwed something up please let me know.**


	4. Tracking

Tracking

_March 30th, 2026_

_The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong_

_0237 hours_

Satellite imagery had confirmed Hansen's fears: the Marianas Facility had been destroyed, melted into radioactive glass. He was ready to send out word to the rest of the world, but only when he knew just how big the kaiju was and where it was headed.

"Sir, I think we've found something." _Speak of the Devil._ Hansen hurried over to the scanner as the technician zoomed in on the Mariana Trench. "We missed it on our initial scan, but we definitely picked something up."

"Can you get a visual?"

"Working on it, sir." the technician made a few keystrokes before the image zoomed in. Now, Hansen could see a noticeable radiation blip, still formless but unmistakably a kaiju. The blip held position north of the Marianas Trench before beginning to move towards Japan, leaving a small trail of radiation signatures behind it to mark it's progress. Initial readings showed that, length-wise, the kaiju would have been close to a Category 3, possibly a Category 4. The radiation readings, however, were way beyond even the Category 5 encountered at the Breach, and the residual radiation given off by the kaiju as it moved was also fairly severe. _I'm sure they can give Gipsy better radiation shielding to protect from that thing._

"Anything we can do to slow it down?" he asked.

"The JSDF has formed a defensive perimeter around the main islands. It's not much but it should keep the kaiju busy long enough for the cities to be evacuated." Hansen nodded, even though it was still a bad prospect. He moved away from that monitor before he was approached by another technician.

"Sir, the upgrades for _Gipsy Danger_ have been delivered and we're installing them as fast as we can."

"Get everyone off duty working on those upgrades; hopefully we can get the Jaeger ready before the kaiju makes landfall." the technician nodded before relaying Hansen's orders. He was half tempted to find Becket again and try to win him over, but he was interrupted by another technician.

"Sir, Representative Madison would like to have a word with you."

"Tell him I'm busy."

"He said it was urgent." _For him, maybe_.

"How can whatever problem he's dealing with be more urgent than stopping a potential Category 5 from destroying half of Japan?"

"I'm not the kind of person to wonder about that, sir." Hansen growled.

"Can you stall him?"

"I tried that, sir. He doesn't really know when to give up." _I like this one; Pentecost must have worn off on him a little._

"I'll deal with him." the technician nodded, and after a few keystrokes Madison appeared on the monitor.

"Hansen, we have a situation here."

"Really? Do tell, I think I was distracted by the kaiju heading towards Japan." Madison frowned, but continued on regardless.

"You do realize that this is on your head."

"I do. I also realize that it was one Joseph Kroeger that first alerted us to the location of the egg."

"I do not know a 'Joseph Kroeger'." Hansen noted that the representative's lip twitched slightly. "And you cannot deflect the blame away from your mistakes. You told me that it was your man that moved the egg from the Marianas-"

"I said we had the egg; I never said we had moved it." Another twitch. "And how do you know the egg is the reason we've got a kaiju on our hands?"

"It seemed like a likely theory..."

"I'd leave the theories to the scientists, Representative. I've already sent word to Japan, and they are preparing for that kaiju to make landfall."

"And if you had listened to my original proposal, you would have had at least one Jaeger to combat the attack."

"I sincerely doubt that a Mark 1 could take out a Category 5, which this one may very well be. As such, _Gipsy Danger_ is almost ready for combat, and should be able to drive the kaiju back before it does too much damage."

"I am still not convinced that your revived Jaeger Program is a practical option for defense, especially when you insist on having so few Jaegers."

"If you would rather go cower behind your Wall and hope the kaiju are polite enough to stop, be my guest." Madison frowned.

"I am not going to argue with you about this, Hansen. I presented a viable plan and you constantly undermined my authority, and now the world will suffer for it."

"At least I'm trying to do something about it."

"Not enough. What do you have, a collection of weaponry and a semi-completed Jaeger? What good will that do against a kaiju?"

"You would be surprised."

"That doesn't matter. If you don't find a way to stop this kaiju-"

"I have a way; it's just not finished yet."

"You know what I mean." Hansen shrugged as Madison hung up.

_March 30th, 2026_

_Pan Pacific Research Facility, Tokyo_

_0913 hours_

The base was a flurry of activity, with soldiers and scientists running to and fro in preparation for the upcoming kaiju attack. Newt and Gottlieb had their research moved into a more secure facility underground, the kaiju egg joining them as soon as it arrived from Osaka.

"And make sure that the shielding is set up just far enough that I can get some instruments in." he said as the girl the Pan Pacific Defense Corps had supplied helped secure the egg.

"Yes, Mr. Geiszler." she replied. Newt nodded and turned to look at Gottlieb, who was fussing away with some kind of mathematics Newt could not identify.

"Don't suppose you'll help out here?" Newt asked.

"I am not going anywhere near one of your little specimens. Last time gave me some very unpleasant and unwanted memories."

"Whatever." Newt turned back to the girl. "Thanks for the help, Miss...?"

"Saegusa," the girl replied. "Miki Saegusa."

"Thank you again, Miss Saegusa. We'll get back to you if we need anything else." Miki smiled before bowing and exiting the room. Once she was gone, Newt turned to his improvised Neural Bridge, pushing it closer to the egg.

"Do I even dare ask what you are doing?" Gottlieb asked.

"Science, primarily." Newt took several parts from the Neural Bridge and began to rearrange them. "I'm trying to increase the neural intake of the device so it can better handle inputs from a kaiju brain. That should make drifting with it a bit easier and not end up with one of us frying their brain."

"That is, assuming, I decide to go along with your plan again." Newt finished with his tinkering and turned towards Gottlieb.

"Hey, you helped out last time."

"That was because we were at a time where desperate measures were needed."

"And because you were freaking out about why your theory didn't seem to be working?"

"Yes, and because-" Gottlieb caught himself, staying silent as he realized what he was about to say. "... It doesn't matter. I do not like the idea of having to subject myself to more of your memories."

"Then how am I supposed to conduct the experiment if I only have one person?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something." there was a pause. "How exactly are you going to conduct the experiment if you don't have a kaiju brain to work with?"

"I've got an egg." Newt gestured to the egg to emphasize his point.

"Just because you have an egg does not mean you have a kaiju. You can't possibly think that your device will generate enough energy to allow you to Drift with an unborn kaiju."

"You'd be surprised." Gottlieb did not respond. Instead he rolled his eyes and left the room while Newt focused on the Neural Bridge. "Now, where am I going to find another person to share the neural load...?"

Down the hallway, one Miki Saegusa was feeling an inexplicable sensation of dread.

...

"I do not believe I am qualified for this sort of experiment, Mr. Geiszler." Miki said as Newt typed in the last calibrations for the Neural Bridge.

"Don't worry, it's only a test; we won't have the device on full power." Newt turned his attention to the egg, which was now draped in a net containing several dozen sensors. He tugged at the net to make sure it was secure before connecting several wires to the machine. "Besides, I've done this before; it'll work."

"But I am not a scientist, Mr. Geiszler-"

"Please, call me Newt."

"... I am not a scientist, Mr... Newt. I would not know what to make of what I would be exposed to."

"I'll handle that part. I just need you to help me with the neural strain of the Bridge."

"I have not had proper training."

"Neither did I when I first tried this out."

"... I have fainting spells."

"Listen, don't worry about this, really." Newt passed her a headset. "No one's ever died from Drifting, and you should be back to normal in an hour or two if you do get all... twitchy." Miki swallowed, but said nothing. "Hey, if something goes wrong I'll find a way to make up for it... just as soon as the possibility of us getting stepped on by a kaiju is out of the picture."

"If you say so..." Miki gently put on the headset while Newt grabbed the controls.

"Alright. Kaiju Egg Drift take one, starting in three... two... one..." and he hit the button.

_Memories, emotions; all flood through in the Drift. None in any particular order, most just blurs of sound_

_His first broken arm._

_Her baby brother._

_High School._

_Moving._

_San Francisco._

_Seoul._

_Genetics._

_Hong Kong._

_Volunteering._

_Then the Drift changes. It darkens, no images gracing their minds, but it is there._

_A sound like tearing metal._

_Fire. Radiation._

_A roar. A kaiju._

_Fear._

_Rushing water._

_Another roar, this one in pain._

_Another sound of tearing metal._

_Care._

_Rage._

Newt was the first to recover, yanking his headset off as fast as he could. He was sweating profusely, but was not suffering from the usual side effects of an impromptu Neural Bridge.

"Woah..." he muttered, reaching out for a chair. "That worked better than I thought it would." he wiped away some sweat from his brow. "Still, woah... we're not dealing with a normal kaiju, what with no link to the others, but still there is some link there otherwise all the external information wouldn't have gotten through so there is something there and just... woah." Newt was getting exited, his hands trembling a little from the stimulus. Part of him wished that Gottlieb had stuck around so that he could either gloat or explain new theories, while another part was happy that he was gone so he would not get chewed out for using the Neural Bridge again.

_Wait... Crap._ Newt spun around and looked at Miki. The poor girl was laid out on the floor, her legs and hands twitching. Newt hurried over to her and pulled her up, and fortunately she was not bleeding as far as Newt could tell. That being said, her eyes were glazed over and her breathing was rapid, and the twitching was not helping in the slightest.

"My head hurts..." Miki forced out once her breathing calmed down.

"Blame me for that; I think I might have gotten my energy inputs wrong." Newt pulled Miki to her feet and sat her down in a chair, the girl still twitching from the Drift.

"My head... the sound... the... _thing_."

"I know. Freaky, isn't it?" _But also cool,_ Newt added in his mind.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" Newt turned as Gottlieb hurried into the room. "I was on my way back when the lights started flickering-" Gottlieb stopped talking when he saw Miki. "Oh God, you used that Neural Bridge again, didn't you?"

"Hey, at least it worked and nobody got hurt."

"Would you say that _this_-" Gottlieb pointed to Miki. "Means nobody got hurt?"

"My head..." Miki muttered, the two scientists not paying her much attention.

"Look," Newt said. "We've got bigger problems. The egg isn't from a kaiju."

"What do you mean, 'isn't from a kaiju'?"

"It's not... well, sort of. It's not one of the ones that came through the Breach, as far as I can tell. There was... something, with nukes, and there's a bigger one out there..."

"What is that supposed to mean-"

"It means that there already were kaiju here before the other ones came through the Breach and now we might have just pissed it off!" there was a pause before Miki slumped over in her chair.

"My head..."

"We should get her to a doctor." Gottlieb said, taking Miki and draping her over one of his shoulders. Newt rushed in to steady the other two, dragging the semi-conscious woman out of the room and down the hall.

_Why does everything kaiju related I touch end up turning bad?_

_March 30th, 2026_

_The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong_

_1439 hours_

"Sir!" Hansen turned as Choi hurried towards him. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that since you put all focus on getting _Gipsy Danger _ready for combat, we've managed to cut our time down to two days."

"And the bad?"

"... The kaiju will make landfall at Osaka tomorrow night, give or take a few hours." Hansen turned away, watching the monitors as they tracked the kaiju. The blip had turned away from Okinawa and was now headed straight for Osaka, picking up speed as it neared land.

"Can the defensive ring try to hold it?"

"With the rate the kaiju is moving, it might make it through the perimeter before the JSDF has a chance to react. Even if they did manage to intercept the kaiju, there's no telling if their weapons will have any effect." _A prettier way of saying Osaka will burn._ Hansen sighed and looked down, closing his eyes.

"If I had spent less time arguing with Madison and more time making sure the Jaegers were ready, we'd have had a chance. Now we just got caught on our asses and an entire city's going down with us." Choi did not answer, instead silently waiting for Hansen to speak again. When he did not, Choi moved on to a different section of the room, speaking to a few technicians about a matter Hansen did not really care about.

Above him, the screen showed the blip slowing slightly as it neared the defensive perimeter, as if it had been waylaid by the JSDF. It held position for a second or two before continuing on it's advance towards Japan. As it slowed, a small square formed next to the blip, reading off Category and Designation of the kaiju.

_Category: 5+_

_Designation: Godzilla._

* * *

**I decided not to give Godzilla some overly huge rating because I felt that doing so had a potential to make Godzilla too much of a Mary Sue esque character (or maybe it's because I'm paranoid). So we have Category 5+; not a set category like, say, 9, but still workable within the universe of Pacific Rim.**

**And I'm trying to flesh out this particular universe a little more with some other characters from the Godzilla franchise... they may or may not have a major impact on the story.**

**Anyway, I don't own ****_Pacific Rim _****or ****_Godzilla_****. Reviews and favorites are welcome, and if I screwed something up please let me know.**


	5. Landfall

**Some more clarification; this is the classic Japanese Godzilla, and not the 1998 Zilla. As to which era I'm drawing from... well, all of them; consider this Godzilla as drawing from all the different eras and movies (maybe even the 1998 movie... maybe).**

**There will be more rant below.**

* * *

Landfall

_March 31st 2026_

_Osaka, Japan_

_2241 hours_

The beast slowed down as the water became shallower. It rose higher in the water, scanning the surface and the horizon for it's enemy. It saw them, black shapes moving across the horizon, and slowly the beast approached. The things were of little threat, as far as the beast knew, and none of them bore the scent of the beast's egg.

Still, they were humans, and they were it's enemy.

As the beast neared the closest of the shapes, a beam of light swept across it's vision. The beast's eye twitched as it dealt with the shifting light, but otherwise it was unhindered. As it swam closer, the beast picked up a high pitch whirring sound before several explosives slammed into the beast's side, filling the water with sound and light.

The humans wanted to fight. The beast would not be slowed.

It breached out of the water, roaring down at the shapes surrounding it. The beast lunged toward the nearest shape, claws ripping through steel and wood with ease and tearing the shape in half. As the first shape burned, the beast turned towards the others and roared, it's spines flashing before another shape was consumed in blue light. The last continued it's attack, trying to keep as far away as possible. The beast roared again and slammed it's tail down, creating a wave strong enough to capsize the enemy.

The beast knew more would come. It dove again and increased it's speed as it neared land, using it's senses to pick out the nearest scent of the egg.

The strongest scent of the egg was in a nearby settlement. The beast shifted it's course slightly, using the scent of the egg and what few lights it could see as a beacon. As it swam near, it picked up the sound of other potential enemies coming closer, higher up and coming in much faster than the ones the beast had just destroyed.

In the water, the beast could avoid them. Once it made landfall, it would have to fight. Now, it pressed on, breaking the surface occasionally to make sure that it's bearings were good.

The new arrivals attacked, more explosions surrounding the beast as they passed overhead. The explosions were annoying, but otherwise had no real effect on the beast. It continued on it's course, even as the enemy swooped in for another attack. It dove a little lower to avoid the next volley of explosions, it's feet brushing against the bottom of the ocean as it swam.

Now that the water was shallow enough, the beast would walk. It pulled itself up and roared, the sound echoing across the area and reaching as far as Kyoto. It could not tell if the enemy had reacted to the beast's challenge, other than their current attacks upon it, so it roared again before finding a solid footing and starting to walk.

As the beast began it's march towards land, the beast spotted it's attackers coming around again. It turned it's head towards them and breathed a jet of light at them, but they were small enough to evade the attack. They turned and attacked again, but the beast paid them no heed as it marched onwards.

_March 31st, 2026_

_Pan Pacific Research Facility, Tokyo_

Since it was a facility of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, the Research Facility had an observation feed set up so the staff could observe attacking kaiju from a relatively safe distance. Most of the time it worked, with the researchers able to analyze the kaiju and, more importantly, find behaviors that could be exploited by Jaeger pilots.

Now, the scientists focused on these screens, watching as the newest kaiju, designated Godzilla, made it's way towards Osaka. It was a massive creature, with a barrel torso and stocky limbs, and two rows of star-shaped spines ran down it's back. It's mouth seemed to glow bright blue, possibly a side effect of it's breath attack, and the monster's sheer size allowed it to ignore every single attack the JSDF threw at it.

The scientists would have been impressed if the fate of the world was not on the line.

One person, however, was not observing Godzilla with the others. Instead, she was curled up in the medical ward, her head buried in her pillow. The doctors had told her to get some sleep, but sleep eluded her.

The only thing she was aware of was the sound like tearing metal.

Miki furrowed her brow as she tried to clear her mind, but the sound always returned. Along with the sound came a flood of images like what she had seen in the Drift: the kaiju, fighting, Godzilla, the egg. She shook her head and rolled over in another attempt to clear her mind, but the images returned, usually in a different order than they were earlier.

_What's going on with me?_ she thought.

Miki rolled onto her back, forcing her eyes shut and rolling her head back and forth slightly. She tried everything, even singing a few lines of a song her mother had taught her when she was little, but the images would not leave. Groaning, she flopped back over onto her stomach, and was just about ready to give up when the images shifted.

She was now confronted with new images; murky water, ships... destroyed, fighters attacking from all angles, a city.

_Is... is that Osaka?_ Miki knew Osaka well; her grandmother had lived in Osaka until she died when Miki was ten, and her parents had been part of the cleanup crew after the kaiju Scissorhands had been killed by _Echo Saber_ in 2019. Now, though, she was seeing the city from the perspective of a kaiju and not a civilian... at least, she assumed that was the case.

Then, she began to feel something... different. The images still came, but now they were laced with something else, emotions. Try as she might, Miki could not block this new flow of images and emotions in her head, her frustration building as the images hung around. However, a latent bit of curiosity made her look to the influx of emotions, trying to find a reason they would be flooding into her mind.

The most prominent one, after rage, seemed to be loneliness.

Her curiosity won out in the end, and she stopped resisting the images. Why loneliness? Kaiju were monsters designed to destroy humanity, why would they feel loneliness? Miki found herself wanting to learn more, to try and find out why something like a kaiju would be lonely... perhaps it had something to do with the egg.

A roar, more fire, and then nothing. She was back in the medical ward, shivering slightly.

_... Was I just in a kaiju's mind?_

_March 31st, 2026_

_Osaka, Japan_

Other than the attack by Scissorhands, Osaka had been mostly untouched by the kaiju. There were the normal issues of Kaiju Blue contamination and Black Market trafficking that was rampant in any area the kaiju attacked and died, but Osaka had survived.

Now, it was at the mercy of a very angry kaiju.

The beast was now in shallow water, waves lapping up against it's stomach. The attacks had stopped for now, but the beast could tell that they would be back. It's main focus was on the egg, wherever it was, and it sniffed the air to try and pick up a stronger scent.

With a growl the beast pressed on, every step it took causing the ground to shake. Small boats that had been moored in the harbor were knocked aside, capsized or crushed, some catching fire from ruptured fuel lines as the beast advanced. It ignored the boats, focusing more on the city ahead of it and the scent of the egg.

The beast picked up the sound of the enemy approaching, again coming in from above. Now it had a better chance at spotting and dealing with them than it had before, and the beast turned towards the approaching enemy. The beast roared just before it attacked, and it saw three explosions as it's enemies failed to evade the attack. The survivors regrouped, pulling away so as to avoid being destroyed by the beast, but it would not be denied and attacked again. Beams of blue light arced through the sky, a dazzling if deadly spectacle and a showcase of the beast's power. Soon, two more fireballs spiraled out of the sky, and the last enemy came too close and was crushed between the jaws of the beast, fire dancing around it's face as debris plummeted to the ground.

As much as the beast wanted to bring death to it's enemies, it's first priority was the egg. It turned away and marched towards the city.

The pavement beneath the beast's feet was never designed with kaiju in mind, and it buckled under the strain of the beast stepping on it. The beast swung it's head around, searching for any sign of the egg, but found none. The scent was there, it just had to find the strongest source. It moved further into the city, buildings and streets crumbling into rubble as it marched on. As it marched, it's tail swept over piles of rubble and unstable ruins, sending debris flying into other buildings and causing more destruction.

More weapons exploded against the beast's head. Growling in frustration, the beast turned towards the source of the explosion, spotting several smaller shapes further in the city. Again, the beast attacked, but due to the size and distance of the enemy the beam ended up striking several buildings before connecting with the target. The buildings were either set alight or collapsed due to their supports being melted by immense heat, with immense clouds of smoke and fire rising up into the air.

The beast paid the destruction no heed. What could it do to slow the beast? It moved on, smashing through several more buildings as it searched for it's egg. It sniffed the air again. The scent of the egg was weak, and the beast was beginning to lose hope on the possibility that it was still here. The beast twisted around, trying to get a better trace of the scent.

The humans had attacked again. Now the beast was beginning to become angry.

The beast turned and roared, picking out the enemy among the dark. It crushed several more buildings as it advanced towards the enemy, their weapons bouncing off it's body like rain. The beast's spines flashed before attacking, it's breath attack digging a deep trench in the ground and slicing through the enemy and the buildings. The humans pulled away, but the beast would not be denied. Neither flame nor smoke nor rubble would stall the beast, and even the attempts by the humans to slow it were for naught; all were destroyed as the beast continued it's rampage. It's claws ripped through taller buildings, the force of each strike enough to turn large chunks of rock into deadly missiles that pulverized anything they hit, and disorientation caused by the beast's steps was enough to slow them down and allow the beast to finish them off. One by one the enemy was destroyed, their devices and weapons blossoming into clouds of fire, their screams drowned out by the roar of the beast.

Feeling that the enemy was dealt with, for now, the beast moved back towards the main part of the city, sniffing the air for signs of the egg. It blasted or crushed several buildings that were in it's way, but no matter where it moved it could not get a good scent. The beast paused for a moment, pulling itself up to it's full height to get above the smoke and fire.

As it rose up, it spotted a glint of something approaching. Humans from the looks of it, many more than the previous attack. Obviously they had not gotten the idea that the beast was not a creature to be trifled with, or else they had not known of the demise of their fellows.

The beast prepared itself. They would all burn if they opposed it's search.

_March 31st, 2026_

_Pan Pacific Research Facility, Tokyo_

Kroeger had not joined the other scientists and staff to observe the attack on Osaka. He had more pressing matters to attend to, and had managed to slip away without the others detecting him.

"I have thought about it," Representative Madison said over the phone. "And this kaiju attack actually is beneficial."

"Funny, you did not seem all that enthusiastic about the egg being moved." Kroeger responded.

"That was different, when we were operating with less evidence. Now, though, we have some room to work with."

"What exactly is that, sir? You said that _Gipsy Danger _is almost ready, and as soon as it's deployed we'll be out of options."

"No we won't. There's always the chance that _Gipsy Danger _is defeated by the kaiju, or that the kaiju destroys one or two more cities before the Jaeger can be deployed. If either situation happens, the Jaeger Program will be seen as less than effective, and then we step in."

"You're gambling a lot that things work out the way you want."

"They have in the past; why shouldn't they work out now?"

"I... I'm not going to argue with that, sir." Kroeger sat up a little straighter. "What do you need me to do?"

"Wait until I have everything in place, and try to keep them from moving the egg in case the kaiju is not defeated."

"Yes sir." The call ended, and Kroeger sighed. That was the problem with working with politicians; they always demanded so much to be done in a short period. Kroeger never voiced his opinions out loud, because that would only cause problems.

He had been chosen because he followed orders, after all.

_April 1st, 2026_

_Osaka, Japan_

_0135 hours_

Most of the city lay in ruins, crushed to dust by the battle between the beast and it's enemies. Some of the destruction had been caused by humans, their weapons somehow failing to hit the beast and landing among the buildings below. Now they were gone, and the beast was allowed time to focus on finding the egg, wherever it might have been.

The egg was not here. The beast could have figured that out sooner, had not the enemy been so persistent in stopping it. The beast did consider itself stubborn, but humans had a special talent for that. It did not care; stubbornness would only hasten their destruction, and the beast was ready to bring down as many of them as it needed.

The beast moved towards the ocean, it's head raised as it tried to find a clear scent. At first it smelled nothing, only the traces the egg had left before it had moved, but gradually the beast began to pick up a stronger scent to the north, near another settlement. It also picked up the sound of the enemy returning, one last attempt to slow the beast and keep it away from it's objective.

Confronting them would only waste time. The beast marched back to the ocean, diving under and swimming to the depths to avoid being traced by the enemy. It would rest and feed before heading north towards the next settlement, where hopefully the egg was. The humans would most likely be searching for the beast, but it had hidden from them for many years; it would be able to hide for a little longer.

As the beast swam, it did not notice a flickering presence in the back of it's mind.

_April 1st, 2026_

_The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong_

The base was almost silent. Everyone had focused their attention on the screens displaying the now ruined city of Osaka, some even sitting down in shock as the scene unfolded. Hansen had seen it many times since the kaiju first attacked, and try as he might he had become much more apathetic towards them.

"Sir?" Hansen turned as Choi entered the room. "Relief crews have been dispatched to Osaka, as per your orders."

"Good..." there was a pause before Hansen spoke again. "The kaiju?"

"It swam out to sea after it finished attacking Osaka. It doesn't really seem to be doing anything else at the moment." _Probably planning out it's next attack_, Hansen thought. "Also, we just received a call from the States, Raleigh Becket in particular." Hansen raised an eyebrow.

"I guess word got out faster than anyone anticipated. What did he have to say?"

"He asked how soon you could bring him and Mako here, and how soon you'd have a Jaeger ready for them to pilot."

* * *

**Probably one of the most common complaints about the 1998 Godzilla movie was that the monster (GINO or Zilla, whatever works best for you) did not destroy anything... Well, he damaged one or two buildings and some military vehicles, but New York City should have been rubble by the time he was done with it (if it were a true Godzilla movie). Hopefully the destruction of Osaka was satisfactory.**

**Tokyo's next on the list, but ****_Gipsy _****will be ready by then...**

**Anyway, I don't own ****_Pacific Rim _****or ****_Godzilla_****. Reviews and favorites are welcome, and if I screwed something up please let me know.**


	6. Preparations

**Some of you were wondering about this, so I think I shall explain things about... things.**

**Scissorhands (the kaiju I mentioned that attacked Osaka before Godzilla) was a Category 3, and one of the first created to better fight Jaegers (kind of like Knifehead). It resembled a giant bipedal chameleon, and it was named after its claws, which resembled a pair of scissors more than, say, a crab's claw. Scissorhands was defeated when ****_Echo Saber_**** broke an oil tanker over it's back and set it on fire.**

**Also, I think this story needs some cover art.**

* * *

Preparations

_April 3rd, 2026_

_The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong_

_1754 hours_

Raleigh looked over to Mako, who was sitting quietly looking out the window opposite of her. She had not spoken much since they had learned of the kaiju attack on Osaka, and Raleigh noticed that she was spending more and more time just staring out into space. Raleigh made a point to confront her and see what was wrong, but for now he was content with leaving her to her thoughts, only briefly making eye contact with her as they neared the Shatterdome.

The base itself had not changed much since Raleigh had seen it last. It was still the same windswept tarmac dotted with equipment and helicopters, and Raleigh could see several workers and security personnel running to and fro. There had been some repairs done to the main structures, but the base still retained it's weathered look.

"We're beginning our descent now," the pilot called from up front. "Marshal Hansen will be waiting for you on the landing pad."

"Thanks for the heads up." Raleigh looked to Mako, who nodded her acknowledgement before reaching over and grabbing her bag. She looked as if she was about to say something, but backed off and resumed looking out the window. _She's probably thinking about Tokyo_, Raleigh thought before retrieving his own bag. There was a pause before the helicopter bounced slightly, heralding their arrival at the Shatterdome.

Being closer to the door, Mako was the first one out of the helicopter and on the tarmac, Raleigh following close behind. The two made their way across the tarmac, carefully dodging workers and vehicles as they approached the entrance to the Shatterdome. Already Raleigh could see Hercules Hansen waiting for them, the man looking much more weary than Raleigh had anticipated.

"Becket, Mori," he said as the two neared. "Welcome back to the Shatterdome."

"Marshal," Raleigh responded with a small nod. Mako was still silent, but she gave her own nod as she fell in place next to Raleigh. "We're not too late, are we?"

"Fortunately the kaiju hasn't done anything since it leveled Osaka." Hansen turned and walked into the base, Raleigh and Mako following. "I'd send you two after it, but we all know what happens when you send Jaegers into deeper waters." Raleigh had not participated in the first few attempts to hit the Breach, but the last attack was enough to teach him that a kaiju was much more dangerous underwater than on land.

"So, we're just going to wait until the kaiju attacks another city?" Raleigh asked.

"If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it." the three had entered one of the larger elevators, Hansen allowing Mako and Raleigh to enter first.

"You probably didn't get any good images of the kaiju we're facing, did you?" Hansen asked after a pause.

"There were a few, but yes, most of them were rather blurry." Mako replied.

"Looks kind of like a big dinosaur? Not a lot different from most kaiju we've faced in the past." Raleigh added.

"If it was the same as what we've faced before, why did it stop at Osaka and go back to the ocean? Why didn't it just keep going until it ran out of cities to destroy?"

"We're not scientists, Marshal; your guess is as good as ours." Hansen did not answer, for the elevator touched down and opened up to the main hangar of the Shatterdome. The entire floor was filled with activity as maintenance crews, engineers, and others went about their business, the sound of machinery filling the air. The smaller side hangars were mostly empty, crews preparing them for housing future Jaegers, but the center hangar was what caught Raleigh's attention.

Inside the hangar was a Jaeger, the robot standing tall among the other machinery. The Jaeger had been painted a dark blue, with red and white stripes highlighting the shoulders and arms. The design was reminiscent of an Old West gunslinger, save for the three huge plates that guarded the Jaeger's back and head. In the center of the Jaeger's chest was a giant turbine, deactivated for now but still prominent enough to be a defining feature. This Jaeger had received many names: the Blue Lady of the North, the Alaskan Sentry, and many more.

To Raleigh, it would always be _Gipsy Danger_.

"I don't believe it..." he whispered. "You rebuilt _Gipsy_."

"Proof of concept to show that we can still build Jaegers." Hansen explained. "Other than extra radiation shielding and improved Drifting capabilities it's not all that different from the _Gipsy_ you two took into the Breach." Raleigh just nodded, his focus still placed upon the Jaeger. Even Mako had cheered up considerably upon seeing _Gipsy_, her stoicism swept away by barely contained glee. Hansen noticed this, stopping for a moment to look at the two Jaeger pilots. "Do you two need a moment?"

"Hmm?" Raleigh and Mako were pulled back to reality, both of them composing themselves and trying to avert their eyes from _Gipsy Danger_. "Sorry, sir. It's been awhile since we've seen a Jaeger, much less _Gipsy_."

"I know the feeling. You can spend as much time as you want looking at the thing once you're fully settled in." the three continued walking, exiting the hangar and walking further into the Shatterdome. "Fortunately you two are familiar with the base and our operations here, so I don't have to go too overboard with debriefing. Just make sure you are ready to go once Godzilla makes his move." Raleigh and Mako stopped walking for a moment, Raleigh raising an eyebrow.

"'Godzilla'? That's the kaiju, right?" he asked.

"Did you think I was talking about the political representatives?"

"No, it's just... 'Godzilla'."

"When you see this thing, you'll call it 'Godzilla'." With that Hansen was gone, leaving Raleigh and Mako alone. Raleigh looked to Mako, who seemed more confused than anything.

"There is something wrong with the name?" she asked.

"Well... I don't know, it just seems kind of goofy to me. I mean, 'Godzilla'; sounds like we're going to be fighting a lizard that's dressed up like the Pope."

"I don't see anything wrong with the name."

"... I'll try to explain later." Raleigh kept walking, Mako following close behind. The layout of the base had not changed much, and the two were able to find the pilots' barracks easily enough. There were fewer people down here, although Mako did say she spotted some new recruits milling around near the sparring rooms.

Still, new recruits were a far cry from the other pilots Raleigh and Mako had met and lost over the years. They might come close, but some breaches were not that easy to seal off.

Raleigh and Mako stopped by one of the large steel doors, only a few faded Russian letters to remind them of the previous occupants. The room itself was a bit more spacious than what they had near the end of the Kaiju War, and even came with a better maintained bathroom and shower, but the differences ended there; it was still a small, slightly damp steel and concrete box the two would be sharing for the foreseeable future.

"Little less drafty than I remember," Raleigh muttered as the two crossed the threshold. "Guess the Russians were on to something."

"I guess..." Mako said, setting her bag down at the foot of the bed and moving further into the room.

"Thinking about Tokyo?" Raleigh said after a pause. Mako did not answer right away, but did give a small nod.

"Every night for the last week, I've had these dreams about the attack on Tokyo. It's the same thing over and over; I'm alone, the kaiju attacks, and then nothing." Mako shivered. "I thought I'd gotten over those dreams a long time ago, but then this new kaiju showed up and everything has gotten worse." her voice caught for a moment, but she still retained her composure. "I keep thinking... what if there was some other little girl in Osaka when that... _thing_ came and destroyed it? What if she was lost, with no one there to comfort her? And... what if there was something I could have done to make sure that did not happen?" Mako looked away, as if she was suppressing the urge to cry. Raleigh set his stuff aside and approached Mako, pulling her into a tight embrace. She was tense at first, as if her mind was rejecting the idea of being touched, but gradually she released her tension and leaned in to Raleigh's chest.

No words needed to be exchanged. They had Drifted together; they understood how the other's mind worked. They stood in silence, allowing each other's presence to calm their souls as they prepared for the fight ahead.

In the silence of the Shatterdome Barracks, they had each other.

_April 3rd, 2026_

_Pan Pacific Research Facility, Tokyo_

_1832 hours_

Newt finished up his current doodle just as Gottlieb finished up his current theory. It as a mass of numbers and equations that had some relevance to the kaiju egg, but Newt was not really seeing it... yet.

"So, if the information you gathered from drifting with the egg is correct," Gottlieb said, turning to face Newt. "Then we've had a kaiju sitting under our noses for thousands of years-"

"Or something like that." Newt interrupted. "Remember, the nukes."

"That might only be superficial; after all, we didn't see the kaiju mutating if we dropped a nuclear warhead on them." Gottlieb turned his attention back to the board. "Now, if your theory about the kaiju coming to Earth before is correct, then it is possible that this creature is either a remnant of that invasion or mutated due to exposure to either the Breach or a high concentration of kaiju genetic material. And-" Gottlieb turned back. "Given the amount of time that has passed between then and now, it's almost impossible for there to be just one."

"Explains the egg. Doesn't explain why we haven't seen any other kaiju before the Breach."

"Perhaps we have..." there was a long pause before Gottlieb spoke again. "Oh God, I'm turning into _you_."

"Hey, maybe you have the right idea." Newt stood up and moved towards the egg. "Maybe we have seen something like this before. You know, like all those stories about dragons and sea serpents."

"This is supposed to be science, not myths and legends. Now, if we do succeed in killing this kaiju, if there are more than just this one it is incredibly likely that we could see a second attack within days or weeks." Newt raised an eyebrow.

"I thought _I_ was the one to spout crazy theories on kaiju behavior."

"As I said earlier, I might be turning into you." Gottlieb shivered and looked at the board. "If only I could get some more information..." there was another pause before Newt stood up and made his way towards the door. Gottlieb realized Newt's intentions and moved to cut him off. "No, you are _not_ bringing that girl back into this!"

"She Drifted with the egg too. She might have seen something I didn't see."

"Or you might have just traumatized her to a point where she wouldn't have seen anything."

"Hey, she was mostly alright, and it's not like I'm asking her to Drift again; just answer a few questions about what the Drift was like."

"And what makes you think that she would be willing to speak with you on this matter?"

"I asked nicely?" Gottlieb was not impressed, so Newt continued on. "Look, I'm sorry about the Drift and all, but now she's the only other person in this base that knows something about this kaiju. If we don't go talk to her, then we'll be stuck here and the kaiju will kill us and nobody will know about this." Newt saw Gottlieb's eye twitch slightly, but the other scientist sighed instead of trying to argue his point further.

"I suppose I should come with you to make sure you don't screw up, again." Newt shrugged and the two scientists exited the room, Gottlieb stopping only to make sure the door was closed and the egg secured. Normally Newt would have called him paranoid, but Hansen's comments about not knowing who Kroeger was had both scientists on edge. The two hurried down the corridor as fast as possible, ducking and weaving around other technicians and staff while trying to look as calm as possible.

After a few overly intense minutes, the two arrived that the infirmary. The worker on duty was more than happy to show Newt and Gottlieb to Miki's room, and he seemed not to care or know about who they were or why they would come here. He did say something about not staying long, but Newt was not paying full attention and decided it was something for Gottlieb to worry about.

Miki's room was at the far end of the hall. She was curled up in the bed, her sheets shoved away as if she had struggled with them. Miki did not react when Newt and Gottlieb entered, and Newt was unsure if she was still conscious or not.

"Miss Saegusa?" Gottlieb asked. "Are you awake?"

"I don't want to be." she replied, still not moving from her position. "I haven't been able to get a decent amount of rest in two days." Newt looked to Gottlieb, who said nothing but did give Newt a disapproving look.

"Listen, Miss..." Newt began, taking a step closer. "I'm sorry about the Drift and all, but-"

"I saw things, if that's what you're wondering." she interrupted. "Not just the Drift. I saw Osaka burning... I've seen it before, when Scissorhands attacked, but this was different. I saw the jets, the ships, the tanks... I was there in the kaiju's head when it destroyed Osaka." Newt looked back to Gottlieb, the other scientist having lost his disapproving look in favor for a more concerned one.

"I also know what you're thinking," Miki continued. "And I don't think anything is really wrong with me in the ways that you would explain... not to say that gives me any pleasure." there was a long period of silence as Newt looked first to Gottlieb and back to Miki. _So... either she's really fried, or she's got some kind of psychic powers... Yeah, this is bad._

"He's angry, you know?" Miki said. "The kaiju. He won't stop until his rage is tempered."

"Do you know how, Miss Saegusa?" Gottlieb asked. Miki shifted a little, but did not turn to face the two.

"Most likely your deaths... at his doing, of course." another long silence followed, with Newt looking over at Gottlieb for some kind of reaction.

"So... giant vengeance driven kaiju out to get us..." Newt said.

"Well, it's certainly an improvement over your previous kaiju encounters." Gottlieb muttered. Newt paused for a moment and then shrugged in agreement before turning his attention back to Miki.

"Well, I'm still sorry about the Drift and all. If you want-"

"I'll tell you everything... soon." Miki shifted around a little more. "Right now I would like to get some rest." Again Newt shrugged, and he and Gottlieb made their way towards the door. Once they were outside the infirmary, they started talking again.

"Okay, that was freaky."

"Freaky?" Gottlieb asked. "I think it's probably traumatization; there's no way she could have actually _seen_ the attack from the kaiju's perspective."

"What if she did?"

"God, you sound like some conspiracy theorist from a bad documentary. I know that you have enough professionalism to not believe in psychic powers."

"We live in a world where giant alien monsters might come out of the ocean to kill us all; psychics doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary." Gottlieb shook his head in frustration and kept walking.

"Unless you can present a more logical explanation, I don't want to hear you going off about psychic powers."

"Whatever."

_April 3rd, 2026_

_The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong_

_2051 hours_

Raleigh had left about half an hour ago. He had been careful not to disturb Mako, and silently she thanked him for that. She lay there, her face buried in her pillow as cool air prickled the hairs on her back, and she would have loved to have remained there for at least another day or so.

However, her body was not as cooperative, and she found herself unable to drift off into sleep. After a few minutes of failure, Mako gave up on trying to rest. Brushing her hair out of her face, she sat up and looked around at the small compartment. She had not yet made the adjustment to military life again, and she found herself longing for the apartment back in Seattle.

_It could be worse... _she reminded herself, thinking back to her first night in the Shatterdome shortly after the attack on Tokyo. She sat in silence for another minute, her eyes tracing the general layout of the room as she decided upon her next course of action. _Perhaps I should go and see what they have done with _Gipsy_..._ Smiling, Mako climbed out of bed and crossed to the bathroom, quickly stepping into the shower and giving a contented sigh as the water splashed over her body.

The shower helped immensely with Mako clearing out her thoughts; Marshal Pentecost had always said a clear mind would produce a better drift, with fewer random images for a pilot to latch on to and fall out of alignment. Mako was unsure if that was what caused the accident the first time she and Raleigh Drifted together, and made a mental note to ask Raleigh about it... preferably at a time where the fate of the world did not hang in the balance. She moved on from that train of thought and focused back on the shower, running her hands through her hair and smiling as she washed away almost a day's worth of grime and silt.

_... I should redo my highlights sometime soon,_ She thought, still working to keep a clear head. _I'm sure I could get that finished before anything-_

"_ALERT._" a voice chimed through the intercom, snapping Mako out of her relaxation."_CREW OF _GIPSY DANGER _REPORT TO DOCKING BAY IMMEDIATELY. CATEGORY 5+ KAIJU, DESIGNATION GODZILLA, EN-ROUTE TO TOKYO._" Mako did not say anything, wordlessly stepping out of the shower and drying herself off as fast as possible.

_My personal desires can wait. We have a kaiju to kill._

_..._

Raleigh had been near the main hangar when the alert went out. One sprint to the loading zone and a change into his suit later, he was busy running final diagnostics on _Gipsy Danger_'s controls while preparing his mind for the Drift and waiting for Mako. Several technicians were still aboard, adjusting harnesses and other devices in preparation for combat.

"Beckett, can you hear me?" the voice of Hansen asked over the suit's speakers.

"Yes sir. Where's Mako?"

"Suiting up; she should be in there in a moment" Raleigh nodded before stepping up to the command platform. As he did, a harness lowered from the ceiling, another technician hurrying over to help strap Raleigh into the controls. Off to the side Raleigh heard the sound of metal boots as Mako hurried over to her position on the left half of _Gipsy_'s cockpit.

"Sorry I wasn't here sooner." she said, stepping up to the command platform.

"You don't have to apologize, Mako." Raleigh responded. Mako nodded as she was strapped in, pulling up her Heads-Up Display once the technicians were clear.

"_PILOTS LOCKED IN, ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE_." _Gipsy_'s onboard computer chimed. "_PREPARE FOR JAEGER LINKUP._" there was a pause as the last of the compartments were sealed before the entire cockpit seemed to drop, the harnesses and clamps being the only thing keeping Raleigh and Mako from falling over. The cockpit slowed before there was a large metallic clunk, signifying that they had connected with _Gipsy_'s main body. As the cockpit was locked into place, the large visual display activated, giving the two pilots a view of both the hangar and the command center beyond.

"_CONNECTION SUCCESSFUL. ACTIVATING NEURAL BRIDGE IN 3...2...1..._"

_Mako and Raleigh open their minds to the Drift. Their memories, knowledge, skills; all combine into one._

_The climbing tree outside his house._

_Playing in the snow near her village._

_His mother's off-key singing._

_Her grandfather's stories._

_Anchorage._

_Seeing Trespasser's head on display._

_Flying into Hong Kong._

_Marshal Pentecost._

_Yancey._

_Hong Kong._

_Arriving in Seattle._

_The Breach._

_Tokyo._

Raleigh opened his eyes as the Neural Bridge was completed. While he could still only see through his own eyes, in his mind he experienced everything Mako was exposed to. Slowly he raised his right arm, Mako joining him in perfect synchronization. The sound of machinery hummed in their ears, and as their arms raised the support staff watched as _Gipsy Danger_'s arm raised.

"_NEURAL BRIDGE COMPLETE. ALL SYSTEMS ARE OPERATIONAL_."

"Beckett, Mori," Hansen said as a map of Japan's coast appeared on the Heads-Up Display. "The kaiju is moving faster than we anticipated, so it'll reach the defensive ring before you can be deployed. The plan is to drop you in Tokyo Bay and work from there."

"That's not much of a plan." Beckett responded. "But I've dealt with worse. We'll stop the kaiju there." Hansen did not say anything, but Raleigh knew that he understood. Raleigh turned to look at Mako, who had dismissed a few scans from her Heads-Up Display. "Ready Mako?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Raleigh nodded. He knew what was going through her mind; she was slightly frightened to return to the place where her family had died, but another part of her was crying out for vengeance and a chance to overcome her past and move on.

_That was the same feeling you had when we fought Leatherback in Hong Kong, wasn't it? _one of Mako's thoughts drifted through Raleigh's mind. He gave a small nod at this before bringing up _Gipsy Danger_'s left hand, curling it into a fist, and slamming it into the Jaeger's open palm.

Humanity was ready to fight back on equal terms.

* * *

**Next chapter: ****_Gipsy Danger_**** vs. Godzilla... yeah, Tokyo's going to get trashed.**

**I don't own Godzilla or Pacific Rim. Reviews and favorites are appreciated, and if I screwed something up please let me know.**


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